Global Security Newswire

The United Nations this week conducted a three-day meeting to consider international cooperation in efforts to fight WMD terrorism, United Press International reported (see GSN, Sept. 24).

Delegates from 35 countries and 19 groups were expected to take part in the conference organized by the U.N. Security Council's 1540 Committee, the entity responsible for overseeing implementation of a 2004 Security Council resolution that requires states to take steps to prevent terrorists from acquiring chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.

The committee hopes to prepare a report on collaborative anti-WMD strategies before the end of 2009, said panel head Jorge Urbina, Costa Rican ambassador to the United Nations.

"The review in general is a process to assess the evolution of risks and threats, to address specific critical issues and to identify possible new approaches for the implementation of the resolution," Urbina said.

Some nations have failed to find ways to work with antiproliferation organizations, the official noted (United Press International, Sept. 30).

The meeting included input from such organizations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, according to a Security Council release.

There remains a significant threat of acts of terrorism involving nuclear or other radioactive materials, the IAEA official said. The nonproliferation regime faces a greater threat than at the time Resolution 1540 was approved, according to a representative from the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization.

The meeting is scheduled to end today (U.N. Security Council release, Oct. 1).